Nestory Irankunda ( ; ; born 9 February 2006) is a professional soccer player who plays as a winger for Primeira Liga club Sporting CP. Born in Tanzania from Burundian parents he plays for the Australia national team.
He played for various Australian youth clubs before beginning his professional career at to A-League club Adelaide United in 2022, being named the joint-2023–24 A-League Young Footballer of the Year with Alex Paulsen. In July 2024, Irankunda joined Bundesliga club Bayern Munich breaking the A-League transfer record of €4m, though featured only in the club's reserve team for one season and went on loan to Swiss Super League club Grasshopper. The following season, he moved to EFL Championship side Watford in July 2025.
Irankunda featured for Australia at the U17 level scoring 11 goals in only seven caps, quickly being promoted to the senior team, where he debuted in June 2024. At the 2026 FIFA World Cup, his opening goal in Australia's 2–0 victory over Turkey made him the youngest Australian man to score at a FIFA World Cup.
Early life and education Nestory Irankunda was born on 9 February 2006 in Kigoma, Tanzania, the third-eldest child with two older brothers and five younger sisters to Gideon, a rideshare driver, and his wife, Dafroza. His parents were originally from Burundi, but fled their home due to the civil war escalating at the time. His father led his family to a refugee camp in Tanzania where Nestory was born.
They moved to Perth in Western Australia, when Irankunda was three months old, before relocating interstate to the northern suburbs of Adelaide, South Australia at the age of seven in 2013. Irankunda grew up in a Christian home, and found his love of football while playing with his older brothers in the yard of his home. At the age of eight, Irankunda played for his first football club at Parafield Gardens after being spotted by the under-10s coach of the local club.
Irankunda attended Parafield Gardens High School in Parafield Gardens, South Australia, a northern suburb of Adelaide. Despite claiming to do poorly at school, Irankunda stated his favourite subject was English, and he enjoyed the Harry Potter books series and film series. He was a runner-up in his category in the School Sports Awards in December 2022.
During his upbringing, Irankunda's father drove him around to his football games before he was old enough to obtain his driver's licence, and his older brothers stopped playing football to help pay for his football fees when he played in NPL. For this reason, he considers his father and brothers as his heroes, as well as his mother and sisters, who took care of him when he was a baby. During his junior years in Australian football, he first played with Northern Wolves in the northern Adelaide suburb of Elizabeth for a season in 2015. During this time, coach Agostino Bivone helped the family by driving them to games, and the club subsidised their fees when they could not afford them.
After making the move to Parafield Gardens SSC, he was scouted and signed by National Premier Leagues (NPL) side Adelaide Croatia Raiders. During his time in the youth levels for the Raiders, he caught the attention of many scouts in the area including Airton Andrioli, the head of youth for A-League side Adelaide United, who eventually invited him to trial for the youth squad before offering a permanent spot after a couple of weeks. When asked about Irankunda in an interview in 2023, Andrioli stated, "When you see a boy like Nestory, some players have that naturally. That gift of understanding and reading the game - Being street smart. You don’t see that a lot in Australian players. That's why Nestory from the start had that kind of thing".
Club career Adelaide United 2021–22: Development In his first year for Adelaide United, Irankunda initially played with the reserves, and after a couple of weeks, started featuring for Adelaide United NPL side. Despite being 15 at the time, he accumulated 26 appearances and 12 goals in total for both the senior and reserve squad for the Reds. On 27 September 2021, Irankunda signed a scholarship contract (his first professional contract) with Adelaide United. On 8 January 2022, at the age of 15 years and 333 days, Irankunda became the sixth youngest player in A-League history and the third youngest debutant at the time for Adelaide United when he made his debut against rivals Melbourne Victory, drawing 1–1 at the Melbourne Rectangular Stadium.
On 30 January, Irankunda scored his first league goal, a free kick in stoppage time to win the game 2–1 against Newcastle Jets. His goal made him the second youngest goalscorer in the league at the age of 15 years and 355 days, after Mohamed Toure who scored at the age of 15 years and 325 days. He scored his second league goal, coming off the bench to score the winner in a 2–1 home win over Central Coast Mariners on 27 February. On 24 April, he increased his goalscoring tally to three after he scored a stoppage time goal and helped his side secure a 2–0 win against Perth Glory. His brief cameo won him the Tomas Dale Medal for his sporting manner in the club. On 26 May, Irankunda was selected in the A-Leagues All Stars squad, alongside teammates Isaías Sánchez and Alexandar Popovic, to face Spanish giants Barcelona.
2022–23: Breakthrough season In November 2022, Irankunda missed the first Original Rivalry match of the 2022–23 season after receiving a month's suspension from the club for turning up late to several team meetings and avoiding "chores" associated with being one of the club’s younger players. Irankunda scored his first goal of the season, the winning goal of a 2–1 home victory against Brisbane Roar on 4 February 2023. His goal received praise from manager Carl Veart who stated, "This is the talent that Nestor has." Irankunda dedicated the goal to Spanish teammate and friend Juande, who broke his leg in a 3–3 draw with Melbourne City a week earlier. Irankunda furthered his reputation as a key player off the bench after scoring in three consecutive appearances for Adelaide United in the matches against Melbourne Victory (1–1), Melbourne City (4–2), and Newcastle Jets (4–2). He was awarded A-League Goal of the Month in February for his goal against Melbourne Victory.
Irankunda was criticised in the media for his discipline issues when he started a brawl in the match against Western Sydney Wanderers that led to Wanderers' captain Marcelo getting sent-off for headlocking Irankunda after he provoked Calem Nieuwenhof. Another incident occurred on 23 April against Perth Glory when he received a booking for kicking the broadcaster’s pitchside microphone. In the same match against Perth, Irankunda scored his fifth goal of the season in the 99th minute of a 4–4 draw at the Perth Rectangular Stadium. The goal brought his A-League career total to eight goals, surpassing Mohamed Toure's record as the competition’s highest under-18 goalscorer. Irankunda was awarded the club's Rising Star accolade on 2 May. He featured off the bench in United's final game of the season on 20 May where his side lost 2–0 against the eventual winners Central Coast Mariners at Central Coast Stadium.
2023–24: Final season with Adelaide United During Adelaide's 2023–24 pre-season, Irankunda returned to Adelaide United Youth, where he scored the winner in the Young Reds' 4–3 elimination final victory against Adelaide Comets in August 2023. In the final minutes of the semi-final against Campbeltown City, he fell to the ground and had difficulty breathing after hitting his head whilst attempting to make a pass. Dr Christian Verdicchio, who was the referee immediately attended to him to ensure he was able to breathe and saved his life as a result of his quick actions. Irankunda was taken off the field and monitored before reporting to training the following day. As cautioned by the doctor, he missed the Round of 16 clash against Western Sydney Wanderers at Marconi Stadium, and subsequently, the semi final second leg against Campbelltown. Prior to his injury, Irankunda made one appearance for the first-team in the 2023 Australia Cup. After 35 substitute appearances, he made his starting debut for Adelaide United on 20 October in a 3–0 victory over Central Coast Mariners at home.
Irankunda scored his first goal as a starter (and for the season) on 29 October from a free-kick in a 6–0 victory over Melbourne City at Coopers Stadium. On 4 November, he was sent off in an Original Rivalry match against Melbourne Victory after receiving two bookings. He missed the following league game against Sydney FC as a result. He was later awarded the October nomination for Young Footballer of the Year for his preceding performances. After the announcement of his move to Bayern, Irankunda returned from suspension on 26 November against Western United, managing one assist to Ben Halloran in a 3–1 win at Eureka Stadium, and later accumulating two assists in his next three league matches.
Irankunda eventually returned to the starting line-up after two further substitute appearances on 4 January 2024, being named against Wellington Phoenix at home. Irankunda contributed towards Adelaide's two goals, including an assist to Hiroshi Ibusuki, in a 2–2 draw by full-time. In particular, Ibusuki acted as a mentor for Irankunda, forming a partnership which saw them both score against Sydney FC in a 4–3 victory at Allianz Stadium on 14 January; Irankunda scored once and his second of the season, assisted by Ibusuki who scored a hat-trick. On 9 February, Irankunda made his 50th league appearance off the bench in a 3–3 draw against Perth Glory at home, becoming the youngest player, aged exactly 18, to reach this milestone and overtaking Liberato Cacace's record of 19 years, 5 months, 10 days old. In the post-match conference, Irankunda was criticised by Veart for not meeting to club standard, adding he hasn't "seen enough happiness from him." On 9 March, Irankunda scored his third goal of the campaign and the equaliser in a 2–1 home defeat to Melbourne Victory.
On 29 March, Irankunda scored his first professional hat-trick in a 4–1 home win over Western United. Aged 18 years and 49 days, he became the youngest player to score a hat-trick in the A-League Men and the second youngest to do so in Australian men's football history. On 8 April, in the following match, Irankunda provided two assists in a 4–2 comeback win against Perth Glory. He played his last match at home on 12 April, scoring a long-range goal, in a 2–1 defeat to Macarthur FC. He added a goal to his tally in a 3–3 draw against Western United on 16 April. In late-April, Irankunda was announced in the 2024 A-League Men All Stars squad that was set to play against Premier League club Newcastle United. Irankunda played his last match on 1 May for Adelaide United in a 2–0 away loss to Central Coast Mariners, allowing the Mariners to win the premiership title over runners-up Wellington Phoenix on the final matchday. Irankunda departed with 16 goals in 60 league appearance, in total, for Adelaide United. He was named the A-League Men Young Footballer of the Year, jointly with Alex Paulsen, at the end of the season.
Bayern Munich On 14 November 2023, Adelaide United announced the sale of Irankunda to Bayern Munich for a club-record fee, with the forward set to join the club on 1 July 2024. Fabrizio Romano reported four days prior that Bayern Munich submitted an offer for Irankunda worth £3 million with add-ons. It has also been reported by other outlets that Bayern submitted an initial offer of €750,000 with a final payment potentially rising to over €3 million if agreed conditions are met.